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Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is upping the power a bit on its shareholder payouts. The company has modestly lifted its dividend, declaring a $0.78 per share disbursement. This is to be distributed on September 16 to shareholders of record as of August 16. That amount is 2% higher than each of the company's previous four payouts of $0.765, the most recent of which was handed out at the beginning of last week.

In the press release announcing the news, Duke Energy quoted its incoming CEO Lynn Good as saying that "one of our primary financial objectives has been to consistently grow the dividend annually. The strength of our balance sheet and significant regulated business mix has allowed us to do exactly that for the past six consecutive years."

The new distribution annualizes to $3.12 per share. That yields 4.7% at Duke Energy's most recent closing stock price of $66.12.

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Eric has been writing about stocks and finance since the mid-1990s, when he lived in Prague, Czech Republic. Over the course of a varied career, he has also been a radio newscaster, an investment banker, and a bass player in a selection of rock and roll bands. A native New Yorker, he currently lives in Los Angeles.